Discretionary Advice Service
JNCC offers a Discretionary Advice Service (DAS) to the Oil and Gas industry to gain advice on environmental aspects of applications early in the licensing process. The service is chargeable, covering offshore environmental advice requests and meeting attendance related to decommissioning operations that fall outside of our statutory duty.
By engaging with developers early in the process, we aim to achieve better environmental outcomes by ensuring appropriate consideration is given to the environmental impacts of decommissioning thus, avoiding costly delays later in the licensing process.
At present this service is focused on oil and gas decommissioning operations (as listed below). However, in time we intend to roll out this service to other oil and gas operations outside of decommissioning and across other industry sectors as appropriate.
The service currently includes environmental advice relating to:
- decommissioning scoping reports;
- draft decommissioning programmes;
- updates to draft decommissioning programmes;
- attendance at decommissioning-related meetings, for example, comparative assessment meetings.
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How to request our DAS
To request our Discretionary Advice Service (DAS), please complete the DAS request form and follow the instructions for submission within the form. Upon submitting the request you are acknowledging and agreeing with our standard DAS terms and conditions and JNCC's privacy notice.
You will receive a response from JNCC within 10 business days to confirm:
- if the request is eligible,
- to discuss the scope of the works,
- to agree a quote for the service,
- to agree a timetable for the service.
Within the request form you can stipulate specific deadlines related to your request. JNCC will endeavour to accommodate these as best we can, but cannot guarantee adherence.
You will then have a further 10 business days to confirm the quotation with us.
Costs
Our Discretionary Advice Service (DAS) is set at a fixed charge per type of request, as outlined in the table below. Charges are exclusive of VAT.
| DAS request | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
| Decommissioning scoping document(s) – JNCC written advice | £750 | £1,000 |
| Draft Decommissioning plan – JNCC written advice | £1,500 | £2,000 |
| Draft Decommissioning plan amendment – JNCC written advice | £650 | £800 |
| Meeting attendance | £180 per hour | £380 per hour |
The tier that the request falls under will be decided by JNCC, based on the complexity of the request submitted. Tier one encompasses 'simple' decommissioning operations, for example those outwith protected sites, or that include small-scale decommissioning activity. Tier two encompasses more complex operations, such as operations within protected sites; or larger-scale decommissioning plans, such as pipeline decommissioning.
Meeting attendance is charged at an hourly rate and is also separated into two tiers depending on the complexity of the request. Tier one allows for attendance by a dedicated case officer, whereas Tier two allows for attendance of a senior manager or specialist alongside the dedicated case officer. JNCC will determine which tier the request falls under upon review of the DAS request form. Where appropriate, travel and subsistence will be quoted for at JNCC standard rates.
JNCC expects to encompass most requests within the set Tier one and Tier two charges. However, in the event that JNCC considers the request to be outwith the scope of either tier, we will deviate from the set charges. This will be highlighted and discussed with you prior to quotation.
If you have a query about our Discretionary Advice Service, please contact OIA@jncc.gov.uk
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